Professor of Chemistry
T. Z. and Irmgard Chu Distinguished Professor
email: crb.berkeley.edu
office: 820 Latimer Hall
phone: 510.643.1682
fax: 510.643.2628
lab: D86-D79 Hildebrand
lab phone: 510.643.2223, 510.643.8889, 510.643.4386
Research Interests
Physical Chemistry of Semiconductor Nanocrystals. Optical, electrical, and thermodynamic properties of a new class of materials, semiconductor nanocrystals, are investigated.
Research Interests:
The Bertozzi group studies cell surface interactions that contribute to human health and disease with specific projects in the areas of cancer, inflammation and bacterial infection. We use the techniques of organic synthesis, genetics and biochemistry as tools to study and manipulate complex cellular processes. Much of our research involves cell surface oligosaccharides, biopolymers that contribute to cell surface recognition and cell-cell communication, and that pose challenging synthetic targets. In addition to our work in the chemical biology of glycosylation, we have a program in biomaterials centered at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Three major areas of research in the lab span the disciplines of chemistry and biology. First, we are investigating new strategies for engineering novel chemistry on cell surfaces. We exploit the unnatural substrate tolerance of certain enzymes involved in oligosaccharide biosynthesis for the metabolic incorporation of unnatural sugars into cell surface-bound macromolecules. The cell surface display of unnatural sugars bearing uniquely reactive functional groups allows for chemical remodeling using highly selective condensation reactions. Applications of the technology include targeted gene delivery and anti-tumor diagnostics.
Second, we are studying biological sulfation pathways that serve a regulatory during an inflammatory response in humans and during mycobacterial infection. Using genomics approaches, we have identified genes encoding sulfating enzymes that contribute to inflammation, tumor metastasis and possibly microbial infection. These discoveries have prompted new projects in enzymology and in library design and synthesis for the discovery of leads for drug development. In addition, we are synthesizing sulfated oligosaccharides produced by mycobacterial pathogens in order to elucidate their interactions with the host immune response.
Finally, we are exploring new methods for the synthesis of homogeneous glycoproteins and their mimetics. One approach involves the identification of difficult linkages within a glycoprotein and the substitution of those linkages, where tolerable, with a more facile bond. Other approaches merge the techniques of recombinant expression and metabolic engineering to produce novel glycoprotein structures within biological activity.
Biography
Professor, born 1966; A.B. Harvard University (1988); Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley (1993); Office of Naval Research Predoctoral Fellow (1988-1991). Irving Sigal Young Investigator Award of the Protein Society (2002); Fellow of the AAAS (2002); Donald Sterling Noyce Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2001); UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award (2001); ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (2001); UC Berkeley Department of Chemistry Teaching Award (2000); Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE) (2000); MacArthur Foundation Award (1999); Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (ACS) (1999); Joel H. Hildebrand Chair in Chemistry (1998-2000); Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
